Right Motives

In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. (Genesis 4:3-5 NIV)

Reading only on the surface of this story, it might seem as though God is the petty one here.  Why was Cain's offering not good enough?  Cain was a crop farmer so fruit of the soil was what he had to offer.  His brother was a rancher, so he had animal offerings.  It doesn't seem right that God would expect Cain to offer something he didn't have.

It wasn't WHAT was being offered.  It was the heart (or lack thereof) behind the offering.  I suspect that there must have already been a lot of jealosy and and competitive feelings in Cain's heart.  Cain's offering was not a sacrifice of worship.  It was more likely given out of obligation.  He maybe even gave more - or better - than what was necessary, trying to make his offering look better than Abel's.

God didn't want Cain's offering - not because God didn't "like" fruit of the soil - but because he knew the true motive behind the offering.  Our best sacrifices and our greatest works are nothing but filthy rags to God if we do them with the wrong motives.

If we give to be noticed or do good deeds only to curry favor among others, we are missing the whole point.  God doesn't care so much about our actions.  He cares about our heart.  He wants us to WANT to sacrifice.  He wants us to WANT to help others.  He wants us to love what and who He loves.  That means the world and all who live in it.  If we truly love, then our sacrifices and good works will be rightly motivated and God will look with favor upon them.

Father,

So many of us thrive on praise that it can be very difficult to do things only out of love without the expectation of being noticed.  Help us to focus on love instead of ourselves.  Help us to stop asking, "what's in it for me?"  Amen.

Joys:  a nice day for a hike!; waiting expectantly for Emma's arrival; looking forward to Richard's visit